Wade Jenkins (u/wadejenkins)

Posts

That time a grad student corrected my 'Clovis First' take at a dig site

I was at a dig in New Mexico back in 2018, just helping move dirt, and I mentioned finding a spear point. This grad student, maybe 22 years old, just looked at me and said 'You know that point is older than Clovis, right?' She pulled out a paper from 2017 about the Buttermilk Creek site in Texas showing pre-Clovis dates. I had been smug about Clovis being the first people in the Americas since my college intro class. Made me realize how fast this field changes if you are not actually reading the latest studies. Anybody else had a younger researcher completely flip your thinking on something?

3 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

wadejenkins•2d ago

Vent: Guy on a jobsite told me to 'just eyeball it' for a 50ft curb

Last month I was doing a curb pour on a parking lot in Phoenix and this older finisher walks over, watches me set up my string lines, and goes 'why you messing with all that? Just eyeball it, it's a curb.' I laughed it off at first cause I thought he was joking. But he kept pushing it, saying I was wasting time and that real finishers don't need all that measuring. I told him straight up I wasn't risking a 50ft run of concrete looking like a roller coaster just to save 10 minutes. He got all huffy and walked away shaking his head. Later I saw his crew finishing a slab and it had a dip you could see from 20 feet away. Has anyone else had some old timer try to sell you on skipping the basic prep work?

3 comments

c/bricklayers•

wadejenkins•23d ago

Best day I had on a job in Philly last summer

I was working on a small retaining wall for a guy in northeast Philly back in July. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and the mortar set up just right every time I laid a brick. I finished the whole 40 foot wall in one day, which is way faster than I normally go. The homeowner came out and said he couldn't believe how straight it looked without any weird gaps. Made me feel good about my work and reminded me why I like this trade. Anybody else have a day where everything just clicked like that?

3 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

wadejenkins•24d ago

A neighbor told me my cabinet prices were too high and I should be ashamed

Last month at a backyard BBQ in Austin, a guy I barely know said I was ripping people off charging $200 per linear foot for shaker cabinets. He claimed his cousin builds the same thing for half the cost out of his garage. Has anyone else had to defend their pricing against people who don't understand what goes into quality work?

3 comments

c/client-management•

wadejenkins•27d ago

Had a client in Austin who went from weekly check-ins to silent for 6 months

I was managing a website redesign for a small law firm back in February, and they wanted updates every Tuesday without fail. Then around April they just stopped replying to emails and I figured they hated the work, but they called me last week asking why the new blog feature wasn't live yet. Anyone else have a client go completely silent and then pop back up expecting you to read their mind?

4 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

wadejenkins•29d ago

A buddy at the game store made me realize I've been a terrible opponent for years

He told me I always rush through other people's turns to get back to mine, and it hit different because I saw it in myself during a 3-hour game of Brass Birmingham last night. Has anyone else had a moment where someone pointed out your table manners were ruining the fun?

3 comments

c/chefs•

wadejenkins•1mo ago

Had a line cook tell me to stop salting proteins so early last week

He said I was pulling moisture out before it hit the grill. Tried his way with a batch of ribeyes, just seasoned right before flame, and the crust came out way better. Anyone else adjust their salting timing based on the protein?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

wadejenkins•1mo ago

I finally cracked that old Maytag dryer rattle after 3 months of guessing

So I had this customer call me about a Maytag dryer that was making this weird thumping sound for like 3 months. I went out there twice and checked the drum rollers, the belt, even the blower wheel. Nothing felt loose. Then I was sitting in my truck eating lunch and I overheard this other repair guy talking about how sometimes the rear drum support slides out of alignment on older models. I went back and looked closer and sure enough the little plastic glides were worn down just enough to let the drum wobble. Took me 15 minutes to put new ones in and the noise was gone. Customer was thrilled and I felt dumb for not catching it sooner lol. Has anyone else had a simple fix that took way too long to figure out because you were looking at the wrong part?

3 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

wadejenkins•1mo ago

Heads up on the Rae Lakes Loop vs the JMT stretch through Sequoia

I did both last summer and the Rae Lakes Loop kicked my butt way worse because of those back-to-back passes above 11,000 feet with no gradual climb. Has anyone else found the shorter routes are actually harder than the long ones?

3 comments

c/fashion-design-ideas•

wadejenkins•1mo ago

Appreciation post: Found a vintage fabric shop in Portland that changed how I look at patterns

Went to Portland last weekend to visit a friend and stumbled into this little shop called Fabric Row on SE Hawthorne. They had bolts of fabric from the 60s and 70s that were still in perfect shape. The patterns on them were wild, like geometric stuff you just don't see anymore. I grabbed a 3 yard piece with these orange and brown zigzags for $12. It made me realize how much modern fabric designs play it safe compared to what they used to do. Have any of you found old fabric that inspired a project in a totally different direction?

3 comments